 Limited
accessState of Secrecy II Government officials routinely broke or skirted Indiana's open records law during a statewide test by eight newspapers. Journalists presenting themselves as citizens visited government offices in all 92 counties to see how readily officials turned over documents that are supposed to be available to anyone. Read more  From compliance to
a finger in the chest, responses to requests cover a wide rangeSome denied access to public records. Some supplied the documents but refused to decipher them. And some government workers provided more information than the person even asked for. Such were the wide-ranging responses to requests for public records by eight Indiana newspapers during an unannounced audit of government offices in August. Read more  Public
access counselor comes to people's rescueSchool officials had switched to a new grading system, and parent Karen Weaver wanted some answers. She asked for all the records about the system, including the names of people involved in the decisions. But officials with South Harrison Community Schools declined Weaver's request, saying the documents were private personnel records and contained observations not meant for the public. Weaver complained to Indiana's public access counselor, who advised district officials that anything factual must be released. Two weeks later, the records showed up. Read more  Copying
cost comparisonIn August, Sara Scavongelli was charged $8 for a police report from the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. Some sheriff's departments around the state charged no fee for incident reports. State law is clear on the cost of obtaining a public record: In most cases, citizens may be charged only for the actual cost of copying a record. Read more  Electronic availabilityLocal officials throughout Indiana aren't doing all they can - or even what state law requires - in using technology to make records more accessible to the public. Journalists from eight Indiana newspapers visited all 92 county auditor's offices and asked for the names, positions and salaries of county employees to be copied onto a computer disk. Only 15 of the 92 offices provided the records electronically. Read more  MethodologyEight Indiana newspapers joined forces earlier this year to see how easy it is for citizens to get public records. The papers-with a combined Sunday circulation of about 900,000 -wanted to see whether there had been any change since the first audit in August 1997. Read more  ResourcesHere are some groups that can help citizens get information from their government. Read more  Wabash
Valley auditorsWabash Valley auditors got good grades from the State of Secrecy project's request for county employees' names, job titles and salaries. Four of the five counties provided the information either immediately or within 24 hours, and two of the five provided the copy either on computer disc or via e-mail, which was included as part of the exercise. Read more  Wabash Valley
sheriffsThree sheriff's offices among Vigo and its four collar counties did not disclose public records during a statewide investigation. In mid-August, the Tribune-Star and seven other state newspapers tested compliance with public access law in county offices. Participants asked sheriff's offices to see public information in crime logs and incident reports involving property damage. Read more  Wabash
Valley court officialsCourt officials in five Wabash Valley counties complied with state law in providing records of sex offenders. That was the case in nearly all counties statewide during a survey of public officials conducted by eight Indiana newspapers, including the Tribune-Star, in August. Read more |
 Daniels, Kernan: Public access to documents must improve 
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